23 Cupcakes
by Aria Illusine
Summary: Chibi NaruSaku, He seemed stunned, those strangely compelling sky-blue eyes widening as he glanced to her, the cupcake in her hand, and then their surroundings. It was then that she noticed the widening circle of people around them.


I hadn't posted up a NaruSaku in AAAAAGES and this particular fic has a special place in my heart because something similar happened to me months ago (when I first came on site). This story happened between me and a little girl on the bus (minus the Naruto background stuff...) and not a little five-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy, but it was still ADORABLE when it occurred!

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not making any profit off of this, Naruto is the property of Kishimoto. Le sigh...

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**23 Cupcakes**

"Aw, come on honey, turn this way for Daddy, Sakura-chan!"

Ten or so years later, Sakura would remember her dad's too-cutesy words with a pained wince, but at five she could only preen as her father circled her like a great, red-haired hovercraft and snapped pictures of his darling princess.

"I can't believe you're going out all by yourself!" And, as if overcome with emotion, he tossed away his camera and swamped the little girl in a bear hug, squeezing as if there was no tomorrow.

"Saitou-kun," his wife chided him cheerfully, holding on to the camera that she had caught in the nick of time, "If you keep going on like that, Sakura-chan is going to be late for Ino-chan's party, and then where will we be?"

"Late, obviously," her husband answered her cheekily, still wrapped around their rosy-headed daughter. But he acquiesced to his wife's tapping foot and drew away, reclaiming his camera as the love of his life handed a covered, plastic tray of cupcakes to the other love of his life with a few well-placed instructions.

"You're a big girl now, Sakura-chan, so no talking to strangers and go straight to Ino-chan's house okay?" the rosy-headed woman admonished, placing a kiss on her daughter's slightly large forehead, below the bow that kept the girl's candy-colored locks out of her eyes.

"'Kay 'kaa-san," the five-year-old lisped cutely, still at the age where she struggled with vowel placement at the beginning of her words. "Sakura will be good!"

"Good girl," her mother said, leading her out and waving goodbye as the little child trundled off down the street without a backward glance. "Good girl…"

"Think our daughter'll run into any mishaps, Kohane-chan?" Saitou asked, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder, nuzzling the rosy-hued strands of her hair lovingly.

"Sakura's a smart girl," Kohane replied with a soft smile. "She'll be safe. We don't live in a village of ninja for nothing, ne?"

"Of course," her husband replied with a grin as his wife twisted in his arms and turned her face up for his kiss.

…

Little girls are not naturally buoyant, but Sakura was just about floating off her feet, feeling fit to burst with pride. She was taking a tray of twenty-four cupcakes, strawberry with lemon frosting, to Ino-chan's birthday party, _alone_. As in, by herself, without parental supervision, and carrying the large tray to boot.

Not that she was really alone; shopkeepers and street vendors, friends and acquaintances of her parents, greeted her with enthusiasm.

"Where are you headed dressed up so nicely, Sakura-chan?" the woman who sold her Kaa-san fruit asked, waving to her as she passed.

"'No-chan's party," was the five-year-old's cute, lisping reply as she paused for a second to give the woman a shy smile. "Kaa-san let me go all by myself!"

"Well aren't you all grown up!" the fruit vendor cooed, reaching over the front of the stand to ruffle the girl's rose-hued hair. "Tell your Okaa-san that I've got some great apples for you both the next time she passes by."

"I'll tell her!" Sakura promised with a cheerful nod as she trotted off.

People passed by, glancing to the rosy-headed girl with smiles on their faces, watching her as she made her way down the street, her face morphing from happy to determined and back again with a great deal of rapidity as she navigated the four blocks to Ino's house with the box of cupcakes in her hands.

It took only two blocks before she had to pause to put down the covered tray. Carrying cupcakes was hard work!

"And so I said to teme-ow!"

With a squeak of pain and surprise, Sakura pitched forward as someone plowed into her back, just barely managing to catch herself before she fell face first into the dirt in her party dress.

Her cheeks flushed with angry heat as she whirled around to yell at the boy who had been stammering a babbled apology, only to come up short. His eyes, cerulean and as clear as the sky above, were definitely not on her, and definitely on her cupcakes. Her anger faded in the face of a sudden desire to move the tray up, down, and around and around. She was pretty sure his eyes would have stayed completely glued to her cupcake tray.

"Um…"

He was either ignoring her, or, more likely, he was too mesmerized by the cupcakes to hear her.

Twenty-four was such a nice…round number. Pretty, neat, and so easily lined up in rows of four. But…

She popped open the top of the tray, making a tiny little face at the utterly stomach-oriented way the boy's mind seemed to operate when he made a low, hungry noise in the back of his throat, taking in deep breaths as the mouthwateringly sweet scent of strawberry frosting filled the crisp autumn air.

"Here."

"R-re-really?"

He seemed stunned, those strangely compelling sky-blue eyes widening as he glanced to her, the cupcake in her hand, and then their surroundings.

It was then that she noticed the widening circle of people around them. Flak jacketed individuals were avoiding the short, blond boy standing in front of her, and he wasn't blind to their actions. Civilians seemed completely unaffected, but shinobi were avoiding the two of them, flowing around them like a river parting around an island.

A strange light filled the boy's eyes, hurt and something else that Sakura couldn't really understand.

"May-maybe…"

Her little brow creased in annoyance; something about his look made her feel like bristling like an angry kitten.

"Take it," she ordered him, grabbing his wrist to place the sweet treat into his unresisting hand, even as his arm tensed under her touch. "It matches your hair."

Confusion broke through the look in the boy's eyes. "But it's…strawberry…"

She laughed. "They're lemon cupcakes," she told him with a little grin. "They're like you underneath."

The boy seemed utterly surprised by her words, a tiny smile slowly curving his lips as his fingers gently tightened around the cupcake.

With another little flash of a smile, Sakura recovered her tray of cupcakes and then, struck with a sudden case of shyness, she scooped them up and scurried off, leaving a grinning, blushing little boy behind her.

…

"_Hey, Naruto-kun, where did you get that cupcake?"_

_ "Oh, hey, Ojii-san! This really nice girl gave it to me!" A silence. "I didn't even ask for her name!"_

_ "I'm sure you'll find her again..." A knowing smile crossed the old man's weathered face. "Do you like her?"_

_ "N-no! …Maybe…"_

END

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_Yup, that's it! Short, sweet, and my take on why Naruto might like Sakura. When it happened to me, it was TERRIBLY cute! Of course, my cupcakes were white with lemon frosting, not lemon with strawberry frosting, but whatever ^^

Please review!

Aria, out.


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